Need help- Anyone run a 50t ring up front?

...if so, what size do you roll on the rear- 18? 16? still learning the ropes, and my new rig comes built with a 50t sugino chainring, with no rear cog. i live in Hawaii, so steep SF-esque hills are nonexistent. i plan to do a lot of distance rides (well, i AM on an island, so its not the type of distance im sure most of you are used to) . i need so advice on whether to keep the 50t, and if so, what size cog to run. if i should indeed switch my front ring out, what size would you recommend for flatland rides? thanks guys.

I used to go between 50x18 and 50x16. The 18 for general riding and to work on spin. The 16 for racing where its fairly flat. I like to use 17 for racing in not so flat areas.
I have recently moved down to a 49t ring so it sort of throws everything out of whack. Although 49t may be a good idea to start with b/c you get more mutually prime gear combinations (more skid patches).

Originally Posted by Josh Frank

I will derive power from their cries of despair. My crank a speedy dervish, spinning and spinning through the darkest night that anyone with the audacity to try and suck my wheel will ever see...

...if so, what size do you roll on the rear- 18? 16? still learning the ropes, and my new rig comes built with a 50t sugino chainring, with no rear cog. i live in Hawaii, so steep SF-esque hills are nonexistent. i plan to do a lot of distance rides (well, i AM on an island, so its not the type of distance im sure most of you are used to) . i need so advice on whether to keep the 50t, and if so, what size cog to run. if i should indeed switch my front ring out, what size would you recommend for flatland rides? thanks guys.

I have started with 50/18 for a hilly commute, city/winter bike is 48/18 as I need more acceleration in the city.

50-18 shouldn't be too bad Transfixed. It's about a 73 inch gear assuming 700*23 tires. Anything from 65-75 inches is pretty good for skidding and fooling around, and the high end of that scale ought to be quite adequate for flat road rides around HI unless you are a speed beast. 53-17 is about 82 inches, that's a substantially bigger gear.

i run 19 in the back. Lots of skid patches, gets me up all of the hills around here, except 1, and I don't spin out too bad coming down. I think its like 71 gi? 18 should be fine if you are hill-less.

“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark,
When work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having,
Just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road,
Without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.”
-Arthur Conan Doyle

I ran 52X18 on my conversion and I liked it alot. It was a bit like getting a train going at first, but after I got my leg muscles built up, it was no problem. The top end was beautiful. I liked passing cars on the road at the speed limit and catching the startled looks of passengers as they saw me go past.

Now I've got a Paddywagon thats at 42X16, going down to 42X15 this week probably, which will get me close to the same ratio(@75GI) to get that huge top end again.

yer fine, i got a loooooong flat section (about 100km or more) that i ride on once in awhile, nice to have the 50x16 and just FLY along the flats. In the city we got hills, i runn smaller gears to suit, depending on where i'm going that day.

You ride a bike, we GET IT, no need to rant about it or look down on others....its JUST A BIKE...get over yourselves.

Just curious, where in HI?
I spent some time in Kaneohe Bay. Aside from Kailua, you weren't getting anywhere without some mountains...

yea, the windward side (kailua/kaneohe) is flanked by the ko'olau mtn range to one side, and the pacific ocean on the other. you were pretty much trapped in. I live smack in the middle of the island (wahiawa / mililani) which is also known as the "central high plains" so things are flat as can be, for the most part. I also plan to ride in the city (honolulu / downtown) which is also pretty flat.
I really need to learn the gear math that you all know so well. I still have no clue of what kind of difference I'd be feeling between a 16t and an 18t

My bike has a stock 48x16, and I just ordered a 18t cog. Do you guys think I would need to make the chain longer? If so, where can I buy extensions? I dont want to buy a new chain if I dont have to, cause the bike is only a week old....

I've always run 52x18 and i don't plan on changing it anytime soon. I think thats about 75'. It was basically my only option at the time but as soon as i started with it i fell in love. Never had any real trouble starting or stopping(skidding is actually beautifully fluid with it) and once you get going, you get going.